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Hieroglyph Project

edited by Ed Finn & Kathryn CramerHieroglyph is a publication, collective conversation and incubator for the “moonshot ecosystem” bringing together writers, scientists, engineers, technologists, industrialists and other creative, synoptic thinkers to collaborate on bold ideas in a protected space for creative play, science, and imagination.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

What Kind of Insects Are Those Buffalo?

There is a tribe called the Ba Mbuti that provide evidence that size
constancy is learned. This tribe lives in a thick jungle where they
never are able to see more than a few yards away. When taken into a
field and shown Buffalo in the distance, they asked what kind of
insects they were. When told that the animals were buffalo, the
tribespeople thought it was witchcraft.

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» What kind of insects are those buffalo? from Blog, Jvstin Style
Kathryn Cramer: What Kind of Insects Are Those Buffalo? Via Kathryn Cramer, we learn of a webpage which, in discussing perception, talks about an African Tribe whose sense of depth and size perception is skewed by growing up in dense jungle. This perce... [Read More]

Tracked on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 at 11:29 AM

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There is a tribe called the Ba Mbuti that provide evidence that size
constancy is learned. This tribe lives in a thick jungle where they
never are able to see more than a few yards away. When taken into a
field and shown Buffalo in the distance, they asked what kind of
insects they were. When told that the animals were buffalo, the
tribespeople thought it was witchcraft.

Mapping for the masses : Nature Commentary: Mapping disaster zones
Google Earth software proved effective during relief efforts in New Orleans and Pakistan, say Illah Nourbakhsh and colleagues. Is there more to be gained than lost from opening up disaster operations to the wider public?
doi:10.1038/439787a